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Comment by CalChris | Hacker News Reader

They already cracked down on it to a degree this season with the new Harden rule. If a player has not yet gathered the ball when contact occurs, it’s a common foul, not a shooting foul.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-nbas-newly-impose...

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Yep he got his own rule. It's still only part of the strategy though. Another foul draw comes from using "normal offensive movement" when shooting, aka jump and move forward, and get a foul called when the defensive player is in your way and doesn't provide room to land.

I know Rockets ball gets a lot of flak and isn't fun to watch all of the time, but as a Houston fan, I admire the amount of time that goes into hacking the metagame.

I've always thought that the base mechanics of basketball are fundamentally broken, and I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it).

Exploiting loopholes reduces the quality of the game and it's just not as fun to watch. The idea that this is a calculated, team effort is annoying. Too bad there isn't a way to give a whole team a technical foul.

I understand this sentiment but let’s call out all of the spades.

Another loophole: Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors. This team took advantage of a one year salary jump resulting from TV revenue which granted them exactly the max slot money they needed to sign the second-best basketball player in the world (at the time - he is arguably the best in 2019).

The NBA gaffed here, honestly. They could have negotiated a smooth salary cap raise with the union over several years. They refused, and it led to arguably the greatest superteam in league history (and this comes from a Heat fan who remembers LeBron + Wade + Bosh very clearly).

One good metagame play deserves another.

How was KD signing his contract year a loophole? The Warriors paid the max that could be paid for a 9-year vet, $26,540,100, and they were still under the luxury cap. [1]

As for gaffing, it wasn't the NBA but rather the NBAPA. The NBA has good reason to smooth out salaries. But it's a stars league and the stars have good reason to lock in as much now as possible. Who has been the president of the Player's Association since 2013? CP3.

[1] https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/salary_cap

My point is that Houston and Golden State have identified and capitalized on arbitrage opportunities. I don’t think NBA fans are thrilled about either team at this point, since - despite concerns about Harden’s foul-baiting - Golden State has dominated the NBA for almost 3 years now.

As for cap smoothing - my bad, you’re right! https://www.si.com/nba/2015/03/11/nbpa-rejects-salary-cap-sm...

And GS in 2016-17, also right and I’m kind of shocked! That Curry contract was a steal in retrospect (although justified given his early career injury troubles). http://www.basketballinsiders.com/golden-state-warriors-team...

(The CP3 thing I won’t discuss except to say that he’s a prodigious talent who also takes shots, although they are sometimes of a cheaper, dirtier kind.)

CP3 is unquestionably a first vote HOF. Not my favorite, but a great player. Arguably in the top 5 small players ever. (Edit: Sorry, I was agreeing with you.)

As for GS, it seems they're pretty popular elsewhere. I obviously like the Warriors brand of beautiful basketball, but I have to, I am forced to against my will, give credit to the Rockets for assembling the anti-Warriors and analyzing the game and the opposition. I can't watch their games but they are very effective.

(Weird that you're getting downvoted.)

I don’t think I questioned CP’s HOF credentials anywhere, except on whether he’s a dirty player. Which he is.

I understand this sentiment but let’s call out all of the spades.

Of all the colloquialisms to go to...

That was racist about a century ago. Now, not so much

it is not now and never was racist, and the expression vastly predates the word "spade" ever being used in a slur sense (by centuries).

/s/was/could have been construed as/

> I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it).

It’s been going on longer than that. Look up the Reggie Miller rule, which was instituted to stop the previous version of the shooter running into the defender trick.

> I've always thought that the base mechanics of basketball are fundamentally broken, and I'm surprised that it's only in the last few years that people have figured out how to exploit it (or maybe it's only now that someone is finally shameless enough to exploit it).

It’s been fundamentally broken ever since being seven feet tall, healthy, and in decent shape was enough to get a Division I scholarship.

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